When California lawmakers approved the Racial Justice Act in August 2020 \u2014 just months after a Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd \u2014 many backers had high hopes it would help undo years of disproportionately lengthy sentences handed down to people of color.<\/p>\n
The law allows convicted defendants to challenge the length of their prison terms if they can demonstrate racial disparities or discriminatory practices in the California jurisdiction where their case was prosecuted.<\/p>\n
But five years after its passage, the law has hardly been used, according to an analysis of newly obtained sentencing data by the Stanford Law School Three Strikes Project and NAACP\u2019s Legal Defense Fund.<\/p>\n
Across California \u201cthere has been no finding by any judge of disparate sentencing\u201d as outlined by the law, according to Michael S. Romano, director of the Stanford Law project.<\/p>\n
On Monday, the Stanford Law group and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund announced the filing of 18 new petitions between five counties \u2014 including Los Angeles and Riverside \u2014 citing \u201cgross racial disparities in sentencing for low level common crimes under the Three Strikes law.\u201d<\/p>\n
In L.A. County, the Stanford group said sentencing data showed that, compared with white defendants, more than 13 times as many Black people are serving life for attempted robbery under Three Strikes.<\/p>\n
One of the state prisoners seeking a reduced term is John Crawford, who was sentenced in L.A. County to 45 years to life for attempted second-degree robbery. In 2018, Crawford, who is now 41, \u201capproached a man on the street and asked for his wallet and phone, and the man ran away,\u201d according to his petition. <\/p>\n
The filing goes on to cite the elevated rate of life sentences among Black people in L.A. County for attempted robbery, adding that those convicted of the offense are sentenced to prison terms that are 36% longer than white suspects who faced the same charges.<\/p>\n
The petition claims Crawford \u201cis entitled to a new, full and fair sentencing\u201d under the Racial Justice Act.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven how broad the disparities are, I think it\u2019s quite alarming and I think the courts will agree,\u201d Romano told The Times. \u201cWe\u2019re asking for our clients to be resentenced, essentially to the sentence white people received for the same crime and circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n
When legislators were debating the Racial Justice Act, critics claimed it would lead to a mass release of dangerous prisoners. That hasn\u2019t happened. Instead, the law has been used in some instances by people seeking redress for racially biased behavior by individual law enforcement officers. <\/p>\n